Benthams version of Utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

Benthams version of Utilitarianism Essay Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that shows the reasons for a person choosing to carry out an action it justifies an action being for the greater good. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory which means it looks at the consequences or result of an action to decide whether it is subsequently right or wrong this also makes it a consequentialist theory. The theory of Utilitarianism began with Jeremy Bentham. Benthams theory of Utilitarianism is where actions are judged based upon the pleasure gained in the result. Jeremy Bentham was the man who originally thought of and came up with the idea of Utilitarianism, he believed in the greatest good for the greatest number. There are two types of Utilitarianism; Benthams theory is Act Utilitarianism. Act Utilitarianism is about creating the greatest amount of pleasure in a particular situation through a particular action. Bentham believed and used research to conclude that people would naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain. Nature had placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do. (Bentham) Bentham truly believed that pleasure was the purest form of good and pain the sole evil; he saw this as moral fact. This is why Bentham is also known as a hedonist. The hedonists were a group of Greek people who sought to find true pleasure; hedone means pleasure in Greek, this group included people such as Plato and Aristotle who agreed that good was found in the greatest happiness. The principle of utility was a way to find out how good or bad an action was, based on its utility (usefulness). An action that creates the most pleasure and the least pain is a useful one and therefore it is good pain v pleasure. For Bentham good, is the maximum amount of pleasure with the minimum amount of pain afflicted and bad, is pain with little pleasure received. Bentham believed that in any situation a person should think of a solution that will lead to the maximum happiness for the maximum of people. For example, if a man with the cure for cancer and a young child were in a car crash, you would assume to save the life of the child as they are considered to be innocent, however with Benthams theory you should do the maximum amount of good for the maximum amount of people, which means you should save the man. By saving the one man you then save thousands, the action of letting the child die is out weighed by the amount of people you have saved if using Benthams theory. However Bentham knew that it would be hard to predict the outcome of every situation and know which route to take and so in order to help, he came up with the hedonic calculus which you can use to work out which option will produce the greatest amount of pleasure. There are seven factors which you must take into account when choosing what to do in a certain situation; the intensity of the pleasure, the duration of the pleasure, how certain pleasure will be the result, how near the pleasure is to you, how continuous is the pleasure, is there likely to be pain mixed with the pleasure and how widespread will the pleasure be. When faced in a dilemma, Bentham believed that you could chose the good option the option which would do the most amount of good and the least amount of pain. For example, if you are in a plane crash and you could only save one person; your wife, your child or a doctor who has the ability to save many. Bentham believes in this situation you must use the hedonic calculus to form a solution to your problem. The doctor could make thousands of lives better and create much more pleasure than if you save the wife or child, however this tough decision would leave you without pleasure. Following Benthams utilitarianism you must save the doctor. When a decision has to be made over a moral situation, the hedonic calculus is used. In using the hedonic calculus the individuals involved should be considered by applying the seven factors to them in relation to the options for the choice of action you have. Utilitarianism has no serious weakness Discuss It is true that Utilitarianism does have many strengths however it does have weaknesses too. Bentham, Mill, Hare and Singers theories each have their own faults. Utilitarianism is very straight forward and easy to understand. It is very natural for a person to consider the outcome and how much pleasure they will gain before going through with an action. It is a principle that aims to bring people happiness this is very appealing for many in societies. Many of the ideas and theories can be related to specific actions and situations and therefore can be helped out in the process of considering what to do in certain places, for example; giving to charity gives happiness to the poor and is good whereas acting cruelly towards someone is bad. The use of Utilitarianism can be carried out universally. Utilitarianism is not dependant on any religion, culture, race or society as it is about a person or groups happiness. This use of utilitarianism is great because it makes people picture and understand other peoples point of view for example; if you were to hit someone then instead of carrying out the action, you would think about the outcome picture yourself in the other persons shoes understand that pain which you would cause and subsequently stop yourself from hurting them. You have to think of other peoples pleasure and pain rather than just your own. This is mainly used in preference utilitarianism as Hare put it standing in someone elses shoes. The fact that Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory is both good and bad. It is natural for us to weigh up the consequences of an action before carrying it out however it is never going to be easy to always predict the outcome of an action completely right for example; if you go out to steal to help your family survive but then get caught and arrested then you can no longer carry out the good action of helping your family. Utilitarianism may also be argued against because it ignores or seems to ignore the importance of following duties the act itself may be right or wrong for a reason other than the amount of happiness it produces, for example an old friend is on his death bed and asks you to swear that you will give à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½30,000 (all of his money when he dies) to his favourite park he used to visit but on the way to handing over the money you see an advert that says it needs à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½30,000 to save 10,000 people. Out of duty you must give the money to the park however if you are following Utilitarianism your belief is that the money must going into creating the most good/ happiness which would be saving those 10,000 people. W.D Ross believed it was important for you to follow and carry out your duty. Benthams Act utilitarianism although was flexible and relied on the consequences it had no defence for minorities for example; one slave being treated badly but creating happiness for a whole family would be thought of as right. Also it is very impractical having to calculate using the hedonic calculus every decision we make. There is also a difficulty defining what pleasure is for example; a paedophiles pleasure is very different to another persons. Mills Rule utilitarianism is very practical and sets about certain rules for society that must be maintained which can help societies to operate. However there are weaknesses to rule utilitarianism too again there is no defence for minorities or any help at what defines happiness but also this time if you are following rules you could end up obeying them even when more happiness can be created by disobeying them.

Impact of internet and mobile phone

Impact of internet and mobile phone Impact of internet and mobile phone on our life and the life of future generations The communication technology has become one of the important technologies in the last thirty years of the late of the twentieth century. The communications Technology industry is still grow significantly. Also, it is likely to increase growth in the coming years. There are several definitions of communication technology and one of them follows: the World Bank defines CT as â€Å"the set of activities which facilitate by electronic means the processing, transmission and display of information† (Cairncross, 1998). In addition there are many types of communication technology. Such as, mobile phone, internet and telephone landlines, etc. The communication technology has evolved to become a tool to link all the countries in the world. In addition, the world has become small village by this technique. In fact, people can see any event in the world on TV, because the satellite is available in most countries. Although this growth increasing worries for future generation of the dangerous of this technology on them, because, this technique also includes the benefits and drawbacks. In this paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages two types of communications technology the internet and mobile phone on our health, education and relationship. Then, it will explain how should concern for the future of our grandchildren from this technique. Introduction on internet: There is a significant increase in the use of the internet by people in the beginning of the twenty-first century compared with year 1990. In January 1990 About 188,000 Core Internet users and approximately 3,400,000 Electronic mail users, whereas the forecast in January 2000 almost 254,000,000 Core Internet users and nearly 827,000,000 Electronic mail users (Cairncross, 1998). For instance (There is) a large use in email-health information by most hospitals. Also, some government agencies are providing high quality information for health care in hospitals and clinics to help patients to make appointments, as well as access to an appropriate decision in the selection of health services. Such as in the United Kingdom people can get an appointment and chose physicians by using internet (Stewart, 2000). In addition the internet has a major impact on performance of hospitals and revenue collection. Nowadays the internet has connected employments and consultants in majority of countries each other, to share some consulting and cooperation in the field of health. For example a doctor in India can request some consultations from doctors in the U.S.A or France by internet. Benefits of mobile phone on health: With regards to mobile phones they have enabled people to keep in touch anywhere at any time. For example, nowadays people can contact the hospitals and ambulance at any time and at anywhere. For instance, if there is an accident, people able to communicate an ambulance immediately by mobile phone to rescue the injured. The second example if somebody has an appointment he can delay or cancel that time by mobile phone from anywhere. Impact of mobile phone on health: However, the mobile phone has impacted on our health. In hospitals the signals emitted by mobile phone can interfere with sensitive electronic devices. For instance, in the hospitals there are signs warning of the use of mobile phone must switch off. In addition when people use the mobile phone for a long time, the temperature of the ear and the area around it is slightly higher, because that signals which emitted from the mobile phone. According to Scottish Executive claims that, â€Å"It is possible to measure how much radio wave energy your body receives from each model of mobile phone. This is called the specific an absorption rate or SAR† (Stewart, 2000). Also a new study in Finland found that the effects of radiation emanating from mobile phone on human cells rather than those rats. In this for a period for two years of research found that the radiation emitted from mobile phone damage the blood brain barrier. Benefits of internet on education: As it can be seen from the above comments communication technology has increased so dramatically, that it has benefited our lives considerably. As a result, the continuing evolution of online world has also had a positive effect on education. For example, internet is widely used to connect teachers with students and speak to them and give people lectures online. According to (Ko Rossen, 2008) described how the internet has been used to emulate classroom discussions, to support students understanding and retention of taught materials. In addition, large numbers of students around the world focus their attention on the use of the internet and there is a supporting factor in their success in the study. For example by E-mail, students can send each other and have access to what they need and as soon as the largest amount of information. In the same way, teaching online takes a short time to be done (Ko Rossen, 2008). online learning provides the teacher a lot of comfort, and freedom for students as well. Bartering of this method, the professor is not required to take hid bag full of papers to classroom, and stand at the lecture with student for hours to explain his lesson. Benefits mobile in education: In the same way, the mobile phone has enabled both teachers and students to keep in touch and help them deal with class problems, discuss assignments, and make plan for study. Moreover, mobile phone is used to help student and other people to obtain important notice which they need. According to Koreas Suk Myoung University stats that, students use the phone to confirm their attendance and enable them to enter the libraries, also to buy some of food from school canteen by a quicker time are easier way(Ko Rossen, 2008). Drawback of internet on education: On the other hand, communication technologies have also negative impacts on our life. More and more, teachers are using the internet in their classroom, so internet has several disadvantages effect on learning. Firstly, in universities some professors use E-mail or websites to download their lecture for student without explain, therefore some students do not understand the lesson especially in scientific subjects and practical materials. Furthermore, scientists can loss the interpersonal skills and the lesson can be done without gestures and movements which add to the science experiment. Secondly, some schools the main factor in educational process is the educator, who have clarify not just how information communication technology works, but, also how young people connect to this tool at home, as well as in the school. It is the teacher who is a responsible to learn children and created their scientific skills rather than using internet. Benefits of internet on relationships: With the regards to the benefits of Internet on relationship, it can be said that the internet has recently become the first modern technique spread in all countries of the world. Also, it has become all segments of society continue through the sites for chat, such as yahoo messenger and Skype. Indeed the internet users every day exposed to configure a new relationship with others. Nowadays the online romantic relationship on internet has spread dramatically, as a result of participation in the chat rooms. By the year 2007, equivalent to 3.3 billion mobile phone users in the world, because the mobile phone has become an integral part of daily life for humans (Cooltech, 2009). In addition the main motive for buying a mobile phone which is the desire of buyers to communicate and social cohesion. For example people use their mobile phone to connect with their families and friends, as well as manage their business. Moreover through the internet and mobile phone communication between the developing countries and the developed countries has become very easy. Negatives the mobile phone internet on relationships On the other hand, the studies suggest that the mobile phone has a negative impact on the balance between work and life. Also, some companies and employers prevent the employees the use of mobile phone, Such as HSBC Bank and Lloyds TSB bank in the United Kingdom. (Monthathip Panos, 2009). Although the internet has advantages, the internet has some disadvantages. Use the internet impact on the amount of time spent by a person with family and friends. Children and young people are more likely than others to use the internet has reduced the time spent with family and friends. In addition the use of internet altered the amount of time spent by a person in the amusements of other, such as TV viewing, reading, sport and social outings (Monthathip Panos, 2009). Impact the communication technology on Generation This rapid development in communication technology has increased concern for our future generation. If there are adverse health effects of mobile phone use is not clear at this time. Although if there is any side effect will be more severely affected on children, because their nervous system still continues to grow. It will be affected tissues of the head for more energy, especially with the length of exposure. It is believe that the diffusion of mobile phone use by children should be avoided especially for non-essential. Also Still mobile technology is relatively new. This is why the scientists and researchers in all over the world are conducting studies and research in an attempt to understand the effects of this small device.

Cultural Studies Essays Culture Food and Eating

Cultural Studies Essays Culture Food and Eating Culture, Food and Eating It has been argued that changes inwhat has been cooked, when, where and by whom are a function of other featureswithin the food economy and will have considerable social, economic and healthconsequences. (LangCaraher, 20010) This essay will discuss the changein relation to culture, food and eating by firstly acknowledging that food, cookingand eating have traditionally been seen principally as the womans role insociety. As this is of high significance in examining the consequences ofchange, it will therefore be examined from the assumption that our society isbuilt upon a patriarchal system which underpins our culture to this presentday. In addition through the yearsmodernity has brought about change in production and consumption which has rapidlytransformed the way in which we approach food and eating. Technology has takena great leap forward in how we cook and eat food. Globalisation has allowed forfood to be shipped around the planet at whim and for food trends to travelacross the world. Traditions are changing as people move from country tocountry bringing food from different cultures into the home and marketplace. In all cultures food is imbued withmeaning, it is a currency in society. Food can nourish, entertain and givepleasure. It can also be a source of political conflict for example governmenthealth warnings or arguments around vegetarianism. Not enough food causesextreme problems and at the other end of the scale too much food can be fatal. Someof these issues will be considered when examining the issues around change insocietys approach to food. The Extent of Change in Relationto Cooking In the past cooking and buying offood were traditionally seen as the womans role and what was eaten wasdictated by the seasonal food available and the amount of money people had tospend on food. In assessing the extent of change it could be identified as the physicaland social aspect. Miller and McHoul (1998,p.33) proposethat the physical covers geography, seasons, and economics and that the socialcovers religion, custom, class, health education, advertising, age, gender, andrace. They also recognise the importance of the physiological, which deals withgenes, allergies, diets, needs, and biochemical reaction. In the past thiswould have been seen as the sphere of experts but in our information rich,self obsessed society this could be a significant factor in cultural changetowards food and cooking and is one that cannot be overlooked. Cooking skills were customarilypassed on through families usually from mothers to daughters. In the past themen were the breadwinners while the women stayed at home and looked after thehome, a patriarchal concept modelled on the aspiring middle classes of thetime. Although times have changed and most women now work, the notion that foodand cooking are the womans domain still prevails. This has an effect on what haschanged or is changing in food matters. Tansey and Worsley (1995, p.144) acknowledgethat most of the burden of domestic work still falls on women. The fact thatthey go to work and do the housework is having remarkable effects on the foodindustry. It has created opportunities for them to produce what Tansey andWorsley describe as labour-saving and ego-protecting products. This has ledto a change in shopping, cooking and eating that would have been unimaginable ageneration ago. Availability of food from all overthe world combined with new ways of cooking has altered the way in which weconsume our food. Refrigeration, freezing and microwaving are examples ofpractical ways in which shopping and cooking has changed. Globalisation has madea large contribution, one aspect relevant to this assessment is a post-modernphenomenon termed McDonaldization by George Ritzer in 1996 which has causedmuch debate. Concerns that mass culture is creating a homogenous world whereeverything will become levelled out is deliberated by many theorists of postmodern culture. But at what point do individualschange their behaviour and attitudes to food? Miller and McHoul (1998,p.33) gosome way towards identifying what could be central to how change takes place inwhat, why, where and by whom food is cooked. They suggest that food stands atthe gateway of nature and culture and involves choice at the point where the biologicalgiven hunger meets and becomes indistinguishable from a cultural marker appetite. There are many ways in which appetite can be influenced in todayssociety which will in turn have a bearing on the key forces driving change. Someof these will be looked at in the next section. Key forces driving change With responsibility for everydaycooking taken by women for almost eighty per cent of the time compared withtwenty-five per cent of men (LangCaraher 2001, p.9), it is no surprisethat the food industry target women. Marketing of food products can be seen asone of the key forces driving change in the way in which we cook and eat. Therange of advertisements bombarding us can feature anything from foodingredients, ready made convenience foods, to fast food outlets andrestaurants. As consumers we are offered a staggering choice to satisfy ourappetites. One of the reasons women are seenas so important to the marketers is that they are seen as both consumers andproducers. Rather than simple consumer demand, Lury (1996, p.44) suggests thatthere are a number of different cycles of production and consumption involvedbefore final enjoyment of a meal. She comments Consumer demand can thus beseen as to be mediated by the state and/or the social relations of thehousehold or domestic mode of production This highlights the fact that foodis not a simple commodity with a one way relationship between production andconsumption. It could be argued that, particularly with food, it cannot beassumed that consumers are passive and that consumption can be taken forgranted even though we clearly will always need food. Rather it emphasises thefact that consumption itself is a socially organised set of practices. Lury illustrates this with a quotefrom Appadurai: Demand emerges as a function ofa variety of social practices and classifications, rather than a mysteriousemanation of human needs, a mechanical response to social manipulation (as inone model of the effects of advertising in our own society), or the narrowingdown of a universal and voracious desire for objects to whatever happens to beavailable. Critics of the food industry mayargue that we are being socially manipulated by being force fed over-processedfoods which are bad for our health. However, it must be recognised that theindustry has grown in response to social change such as new working patterns,the rise of single households, and a highly stressed society eating on thehoof. With more single households and families not eating together the foodindustry has provided us with ready made meals to suit our lifestyles. Nevertheless there are many issuessurrounding the food industry which have given cause for concern. The way inwhich food and ingredients are manufactured has resulted in worries aboutimbalance in world economies with cheap food from around the world. Healthscares such as BSE and salmonella in the food chain, fats and additives causingobesity and diabetes are just some of the current arguments. Lang and Caraher(p.10) contend thatfrom the available evidence .. large food retailers are not just respondingto a cultural change, but are using market levers to suit their own agendaswith little thought for longer-term public health outcomes. It has nowbecome so apparent that there is a crisis regarding health, and childrenshealth in particular, that the government has launched a variety of campaignsto persuade the public to eat healthily. This also includes putting pressure onmanufacturers. It could be maintained that given the shocking statistics onhealth, the State is destined to become a key force for driving change in thefuture. The Significance of Change As already identified, concernsover the health of the nation is one of the biggest issues in society at themoment. It has been said that if this trend continues we are the firstgeneration where parents are expected to outlive their children. While cookingis purported to be on the decline for younger people, it is argued that as anation we know more about diet and nutrition than ever before. If the number oftelevision programmes and magazines on food and health can be taken as evidenceof this it would seem it is true. It is clear that our relationshipwith food has changed drastically in recent years, and can be argued that it isa post-modern problem, one of the most visible areas being the explosion of thediet industry. An article in the Observer Food Magazine (March 2005, p.17)considers the latest trend in dieting and why we feel the need to follow adiet. One theory is that it is the sheer abundance of food has changed us intoa nation of nearly 13 million diet addicts. Dr Andrew Hill, senior lecturer inbehavioural studies contends: It is only in the lastmicro-second of human evolution that we have become surrounded by a sea ofcalories. Weve become international, non-seasonal feeders and for anincreasing proportion of people, this represents a challenge. We simply donthave the psychological controls to cope. Our biological system is tilted infavour of over-consumption This and other issues around foodhave brought it into the public eye and inevitably become a matter ofgovernment policy. Tansey and Worsley (p.214) point to five areas with whichthe conventional economic approach to policy concerns itself; efficiency,growth, stability, sustainability, equity. They demonstrate how important foodpolicy is with a quote from John McInerney: Food is an exceptionallypolitical commodity the idea of there being a COLLECTIVE wellbeing inaddition to an individual one will lead to an array of policy actions designedto protect or foster the interests of the weak and vulnerable, referee theinteractions both within and between groups all along the food chain, insulateone group from the actions of others, and redistribute the benefits to achievea more equitable pattern than the market system can manage on its own. With health at the top of thepolitical agenda for any government it could be anticipated that policy willchange the way we approach food. While the government lobbies the food industryand bombards us with the latest health campaign they could expect some results.But when it comes back down to individuals who will implement this in the home?Yet again the burden will fall on the shoulders of women as Guardians of thefamilys health. Conclusion There are many factors involved inthe change in our attitude to food, cooking and eating, of which only a fewhave been discussed in this essay. One thing that remains constant is that westill view our society through the lens of patriarchy therefore, whetherconsciously or unconsciously rely on gender stereotypes of the mother as thenurturer. While this is still largely true the last twenty or thirty years haveproved that the feminist ideals of women being able to have it all has notlived up to its promise. Women have had to rely on a flourishing food industryto help them cope with the domestic load as well as going to work outside thehome. While this has been celebrated by many women as releasing them from thekitchen and allowing them to have a career of their own, it becomes clear thatsociety has not been able to offer any real alternative to womens unpaid workin the home. The concern we have at present withfood, health, and eating has evolved as a consequence of new social patterns,globalisation, marketing, industry and state policy. As a society we must askourselves whether culturally we still put the responsibility for these issuesat the feet of women on the basic level that as the nurturers they areletting down their families. If that is so it then it is not until eachindividual takes responsibility for their own approach to food that things willchange for the better. BIBLIOGRAPHY Miller, T McHoul, A 1998, PopularCulture and Everyday Life Tansey, G Worsley, T 1995, TheFood System, a Guide Lang, T Caraher M, 2001, IsThere a Culinary Skills Transition? Data and debate from the UK about changes in cooking culture, Journal of the HEIA, Vol 8, No 2, 2001 Lury, Celia 1996, ConsumerCulture Observer Food Magazine, March 2005,Do the Science, The Observer 13/3/05

The Effectiveness of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Essay example

The Effectiveness of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift "A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public" - Jonathan Swift 1729. In reading this you will discover the answer to the above question in three parts;  · How effective is it as an argument  · How effective is it as a piece of information  · How effective is it as satire "A Modest Proposal" first appeared in public in 1729, Swift wrote this article after all of his previous suggestions had been rejected by the Irish authorities. Swift felt the English government had psychologically exiled him and this greatly added to the rage he felt over the way the Irish People were treated or rather mistreated by the English. Although Swift's highest and most prominent concerns were for his own class, the Anglo-Irish, he in the end spoke for the nation as a whole. Swift defined satire as; 'A sort of glass wherein the holders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it." Swift presents his "Proposal" as an entirely reasonable suggestion to aid the Irish, he enumerates the many benefits, counters the objections many may have, uses rhetoric reasoning and proves his humanitarianism views. Swift has written in considerable detail over the degree of poverty in Ireland, he draws attention to the causes of it obliquely and proves in great detail that his "Proposal" will work and in which ways it does work. Ireland was a colony of England; it was economically, politically and militarily dependent on ... ...tire Swift has successfully drawn attention to the extremely dire economic state of Ireland and the incompetence of the British government to solve or even begin to contemplate, in Swift's mind, these problems. This "Proposal" should be viewed as a fictional work, designed to entertain the upper-class whilst enlightening them upon the conditions of poverty in their own country. This "Proposal" could be viewed as an attempt to change the ways in which both England and Ireland viewed the state of Ireland, which was in a lethargic state. It is masterful in its own nature, the way in which Swift has challenged the prospect of changing lives and living conditions, while entertaining the audience at the same time. The true irony in "A Modest Proposal" lies not in analysing the minute details, but rather in the context of the "Proposal" as it is written.

Relationship between Sublime and Magical Realism Explored in The Monkey

Relationship between Sublime and Magical Realism Explored in The Monkey      Ã‚   From the beginning of The Monkey, a short story located within Isak Dinesen's anthology Seven Gothic Tales, the reader is taken back to a â€Å"storytime† world he or she may remember from childhood. Dinesen's 1934 example of what has been identified as the "Gothic Sublime" sets the stage for analysis of its relationship to other types of literature. What constitutes Sublime literature? More importantly, how may sublime literature relate to Magical Realist literature? Through examination of The Monkey, the relationship between Sublime literature and Magical Realist literature can be defined.    Scholars have traced the history of Sublime literature back to the third century literary critic Longinus. In his work Peri Hypsos, he lays the groundwork for the Sublime literature that still exists today. "Sublimity is always an eminence and excellence in language" (qtd. in Arensberg 3). "Excellence and eminence" are conveyed through rhetorical devices found in the text. Many of these devices are also found in works identified as Magical Realist works of literature.    Longinus' characteristics are evidenced throughout The Monkey. One such characteristic is the use of elevated language to describe a scene or action:    The Prioress received her nephew within her lofty parlor. Its three tall windows looked out, between heavy curtains which had on them borders of flower garlands done in cross-stich, over the lawns and avenues of the autumnal garden. From the damask-clad walls her long-departed father and mother gazed down, out of broad gilt frames, with military gravity and youthful grace, powered and laced for some gr... ...ic realms cannot merge.    For these reasons, based on the examination of these two works, one cannot assume that Sublime literature and Magical Realist literature are the same, nor can one assume that they are genres of one another. They seem to have many characteristics in common, and therefore one would assume that they maintain a close relationship, although independently. By comparing and contrasting another genre of literature with Magical Realism, the defining boundaries that make up Magical Realism are narrowed.    Works Cited Arensberg, Mary. The American Sublime. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986. Dinesen, Isak. Seven Gothic Tales. New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas Inc., 1934. Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Longinus. On the Sublime. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1995.    Relationship between Sublime and Magical Realism Explored in The Monkey Relationship between Sublime and Magical Realism Explored in The Monkey      Ã‚   From the beginning of The Monkey, a short story located within Isak Dinesen's anthology Seven Gothic Tales, the reader is taken back to a â€Å"storytime† world he or she may remember from childhood. Dinesen's 1934 example of what has been identified as the "Gothic Sublime" sets the stage for analysis of its relationship to other types of literature. What constitutes Sublime literature? More importantly, how may sublime literature relate to Magical Realist literature? Through examination of The Monkey, the relationship between Sublime literature and Magical Realist literature can be defined.    Scholars have traced the history of Sublime literature back to the third century literary critic Longinus. In his work Peri Hypsos, he lays the groundwork for the Sublime literature that still exists today. "Sublimity is always an eminence and excellence in language" (qtd. in Arensberg 3). "Excellence and eminence" are conveyed through rhetorical devices found in the text. Many of these devices are also found in works identified as Magical Realist works of literature.    Longinus' characteristics are evidenced throughout The Monkey. One such characteristic is the use of elevated language to describe a scene or action:    The Prioress received her nephew within her lofty parlor. Its three tall windows looked out, between heavy curtains which had on them borders of flower garlands done in cross-stich, over the lawns and avenues of the autumnal garden. From the damask-clad walls her long-departed father and mother gazed down, out of broad gilt frames, with military gravity and youthful grace, powered and laced for some gr... ...ic realms cannot merge.    For these reasons, based on the examination of these two works, one cannot assume that Sublime literature and Magical Realist literature are the same, nor can one assume that they are genres of one another. They seem to have many characteristics in common, and therefore one would assume that they maintain a close relationship, although independently. By comparing and contrasting another genre of literature with Magical Realism, the defining boundaries that make up Magical Realism are narrowed.    Works Cited Arensberg, Mary. The American Sublime. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986. Dinesen, Isak. Seven Gothic Tales. New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas Inc., 1934. Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Longinus. On the Sublime. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1995.   

Mental Retardation

70. 55. 40. 25. These are the four degrees of mental retardation. These numbers represent the severity of mental retardation in an individual. Each degree is categorized under Mild, Moderate, Severe and Profound. Severity Unspecified is also a term used when there is a strong presumption of Mental Retardation but the standards test cannot conclude the severity therefore the person’s intelligence is not sustained by the standard test. In diagnosing mental retardation, there must be three criterion’s met a IQ below 70 and significant limitations in two or more areas of adaptive behaviors.In example, communication, self help, interpersonal skills, self-directions, resources, functional academic skills, work, home living, health and safety (American Psychiatric Association. 2000). A more common symptom for an individual with mental retardation is adaptive functioning. A persons background is also taken into consideration during the test analysis social cultural background, motivation and education. Genetic screening takes place before the child is born. There are a few common tests that can help in diagnosing. Prenatal testing is offered to detect any changes in the fetus.This testing is offered if there is a increase risk’s that the fetus will have a chromosomal or genetic disorder. However, this cannot detect all birth disorders. Diagnostic testing is put into use when there is suspicion of a particular condition based on physical signs and symptoms. Newborn screening is used right after birth to identify any genetic disorders (Undefined. 2013). Among children, the cause is usually unknown for one-third to one-half of cases (Daily, Ardringer, and Holmes. 2000). Mental Retardation is diagnosed before eighteen years of age.A few common causes of Mental Retardation are genetic conditions, problems during pregnancy, and problems at birth, exposure to toxins or diseases, and malnutrition. Genetic conditions can occur when genes are combined or the parents inherit abnormal genes. A fetus not developing properly in the womb can also lead to Mental Retardation. Problems at birth can lead to brain damage when a child is unable to get enough oxygen. Exposure to toxins and diseases such as lead, mercury or contracting whooping cough, measles or meningitis can cause mental disability.Malnutrition has also been a cause of reduced intelligence. Mild Mental Retardation used to be referred to as an educational category or â€Å"educable†. About eighty five percent of individuals with Mental Retardation are diagnosed with Mild Mental Retardation. A typical individual can usually develop social and communication skills during his or her preschool years, zero to five years of age. Though they have minimal impairment in sensorimotor areas they are not often distinguishable from other children until they have reached a later age.During their late teen years they have acquired academic skills equivalent to a sixth grader. Social and v ocational skills for minimal support are achieved during the their adult years. A few individuals may need supervision, assistance or guidance. This is more common during unusual social or economic stress. However, as adults they have proven to be successful in the community under independent or supervised settings. Moderate mental retardation is referred to in the education category as â€Å"trainable.† This term is generally not used nor should be used since it implies that people with Moderate Mental Retardation do not benefit from an education program (American Psychiatric Association. 2000). Out of the entire population of people diagnosed with Mental Retardation, only ten percent are constituted as Moderate. People diagnosed with Moderate Mental Retardation acquire communication skills early in childhood and often benefit from vocational training or moderate supervision. Individuals with Moderate Mental Retardation are able to attend to their personal care and have the capability to travel independently in familiar places.Training in social and occupational is beneficial, however persons diagnosed are unlikely to progress beyond the second grade level in academic subjects. During the adolescent years social conventions can interfere with peer relationships. In adult years, the individual is able to perform skilled or semi skilled tasks under minimal supervision in the general workforce. Persons with Moderate Mental Retardation adapt well to life in the community usually under supervision (American Psychiatric Association. 2000).Severe Mental Retardation occurs in three to four percent of the population. The individual may learn little to no communication but can be trained to adapt to elementary skills. An extension in pre academic subjects is highly profited. This can lead to familiarizing themselves with the alphabet, survival words and simple counting tasks. A person is capable of adapting well to life in the community unless another handicap i s associated. One percent to two percent is diagnosed with Profound Mental Retardation.A child who displays a considerable impairment in sensorimotor functioning is diagnosed with Profound Mental Retardation, however most are identified through neurological conditions accounting for Mental Retardation. High development can occur in a very structured environment of supervision and reoccurring aid. An individualized relationship between the caregiver and diagnosed individual is best suited. Clinically, Mental Retardation is only a subtype of intellectual deficit; a broader concept and includes intellectual deficits but are too mild to accurately pin point and qualify as Mental Retardation.In contrast, this can also be too specific (as in Specific Learning Disability) or something acquired later in life through acquired brain injuries or neurodegenerative disease like dementia. Intellectual deficits can appear at any age unlike Mental Retardation, which is primarily diagnosed before th e age of eighteen. However, Developmental Disability is a disability due to problems with growth and development (Lawyer. 2010). The term Development Disability encompasses various congenital medical conditions that are not related to mental or intellectual components, though it is at times used as a euphemism for Mental Retardation.

How Celtic is Iron Age Britain?

The construct of sorting a period of prehistoric culture as the Iron Age was foremost introduced in the nineteenth century, and subsequently validated by the massively important finds at Hallstatt and La Tene. Subsequently, the epoch was broken down into chronological periods, against which the British Iron Age is now defined. For easiness of definition, The British Iron Age tends to be broken into three periods, Early, Middle and Late, crossing approximately 1000 old ages, from 800 BC to the second century AD, and is so named owing to the find and development of Fe taking prevalence over the usage of bronze. The term Celtic, holding passed into the slang, is now nil more than a obscure generic term. The traditional position was that Iron Age Britons were portion of a huge Celtic Commonwealth which so stretched across Europe, a universe of peoples who spoke related linguistic communications, and who shared a typical set of values, societal establishments, spiritualty, art and other facets of life and civilization. ( James 1997, 2 ) . This is now acknowledged to be a monolithic simplism, a romanticised impression Born of theories put frontward by eighteenth century bookmans, based on classical Latin and Greek beginnings. Edward Lhuyd proposed that Welsh, Scottish and Irish languages all root from the ancient Gaulish. The label Celtic was so transposed from the linguistic communications to the people themselves, landscapes, and their sensed civilization and art. Historically and archaeologically talking, this word is unhelpful and uninformative. Indeed, Simon James has suggested that naming the Iron Age Celtic is so deceptive that it is best abandoned. ( James S. 01.06.98 ) As the term Celtic is virtually nonmeaningful, for the intent of this piece we shall look into to what extent the autochthonal population of Britain were influenced by their Continental opposite numbers. It was thought that the Iron Age Britons ( consisting of diverse and frequently warring folks and were in no manner unified ) were capable to a figure of Belgic invasions during the Iron Age. Some of the grounds for this theoretical account comes from Caesar, who states that anterior to his ain expeditions of 55 and 54 B.C. , the population of the coastal parts of south-eastern Britain had themselves migrated from Belgic Gaul, foremost in hunt of loot, and later in order to settle for good. He besides reported that in his ain life-time, Diviciacus had been non merely the most powerful swayer in all Gaul, but had besides exercised sovereignty in Britain. ( D.W. Harding 1974, 201 ) There is archeological grounds which has been used to back up this theoretical account. The find of the Battersea shield in 1857, an elaborately decorated piece, is similar to a bronze shield found in the river Witham in Lincolnshire. Both are similar in design to artefacts found at La Tene. These discoveries, combined with graveyard sites in Aylesford, Welwyn and East Yorkshire, which bore close relation to Gaulish burial rites, were taken as verifying the theory of invasion as the principal, even exclusive, cause of alteration in prehistoric Britain. ( James 1997, 12 ) With the coming of Fe came a figure of bastioned defense mechanisms or hillforts. There are about 3,300 such defense mechanisms on mainland Britain. It was originally thought that these were a response to an invasion in the third century B.C. allowing loose sets of Gaelic warriors over big parts of the south state. ( Harding 1974, 54 ) However, subsequent probe has found that techniques such as lumber lacing, which was prevalent on the Continent, was besides adopted in Britain. This presents us with the fact that there were so links with the Continent, which were non needfully hostile, as their engineering is shared and assimilated. Some folks depended wholly on agribusiness where the land and dirt permitted ; others in coastal parts where the land was non so hospitable, subsisted wholly from the sea. Settlement types varied consequently, from the normally used roundhouse, to the Lake Village close Glastonbury in the Somerset degrees, to the rock built brochs of Northern Scotland. Such diverseness does non look to hold been echoed on the Continent, although there were similarities in some countries. Mentioning to a colony in Kent, Caesar wrote that the edifices were situated in close propinquity to each other, and really similar to the colonies of the Gauls. However, there remains small grounds to day of the month to propose a strong relationship between the homes on the continent, and those in Britain. The economic system chiefly relied on agribusiness and the industry of certain goods. Barry Cunliffe describes it therefore: a loosely parallel development between Britain and the Continent, the two countries retaining a close contact, which encouraged a free flow of thoughts and an exchange of goods, while autochthonal traditions remain dominant. ( Cunliffe 1991, 442 ) The usage of mintage came into pattern around 100 B.C. and straight emulated the Gallic system. There were comparings with the economic system of the Continent, but the British remained insular to some extent until the ulterior Roman invasion. We have some archeological grounds of the funerary patterns of antediluvian Britain, but merely classical mentions inform us as to the Gods, Druids and priesthoods intrinsic to these beliefs. Harmonizing to Caesar, the Gauls and the British shared several patterns, including the preparation of Druids. In the early Iron Age, the disposal of organic structures left no archeological hint. The in-between Fe age sees graveyards and burials with goods, whilst the late Iron Age sees the debut of cremations form Gaul. In add-on, many organic structures from this epoch have been retrieved from peat bogs throughout northern Europe, frequently with marks of multiple causes of decease, possibly bespeaking ritual forfeit. Evidence suggests that similar beliefs are held throughout Europe at this clip, and would look to denote a belief in some signifier of hereafter. Much is made of the Celtic caput cult, but this mostly depends on reading of the grounds. ‘There is no uncertainty that the cap ut was considered the most of import portion of the human organic structure the accent on head-hunting demonstrates this and the emphasis on the caput in Celtic art is incontestible. Yet I believe it is a error to believe in footings of a specific head-cult’ ( Green 1986, 216 ) . In decision, how Belgae Gallic was Iron Age Britain? Surely, many facets of Iron Age life were influenced by the Belgic Gauls, to changing grades throughout the period. But to name the British Iron Age Celtic is a simplified generalization ; some countries were touched by Continental patterns, others, more geographically remote from the south seashore will hold felt their influences far less. However, it seems far less likely that Britain was invaded per Se. Simon James states that Britain in the Iron Age grew with critical, if non fickle, parts and influences from Continental Europe in the signifier of trade, kinship links, and reasonably surely some localized in-migration, particularly in the late Iron Age South. ( James 1997, 84 ) The revisionist theory seems at this minute far more plausible than the construct of sweeping invasion. Bibliography Cunliffe, Barry, Iron Age Communities in Britain, Routledge 1991Green, Miranda, The Gods of the Celts, Gloucester 1986.Harding, D.W. , The Iron Age in Lowland Britain, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1974James, S. & A ; Rigby, V. , Britain and the Celtic Iron Age, British Museum Press 1997James, S. , 1998 Peoples of Britain ( online ) UK ; Available: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/prehistory/peoples_03.shtml Accessed 29th April 2005